


It’s the Strangest Thing

by LivetoDream333 (orphan_account)



Series: Double-O Drabbles [4]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Awkward but Happy Eve, Do not Disturb, Eve is Funny, Kissing, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Memory Loss, Panic Attacks, Past Torture, Poe - Freeform, Psychological Trauma, Repression, Reunions, Scars, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Torture, probably, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-20 00:51:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1490620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/LivetoDream333
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been nearly a year since M had blown up a building with Q inside. Nearly a year since Q had lost his memory. Nearly a year since M had hidden him out in the world with a new identity and refused to tell anyone where he was. Nearly a year since James had seen the man he loved.<br/>Then James sees a familiar shape on a mission...and gets a bit sidetracked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It’s the Strangest Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Angst... I think that's what I was going for... Don't know what I wrote, but angst is what I set off to write for LadyChef. Hope I got something right. Nothing too graphic in this, but there is some mentions of torture, rape, and panic attacks.

It’s the Strangest Thing

 

James had been listening in to the comms when M had made the decision. It had taken Alec and 009 to hold him back from killing M when he had finally made it into the same room as the man. M had collapsed a building, with Q still inside. M only lived because Q survived. He was in a coma, but he’d survived.

Medical said the brain damage wasn’t pretty, that some things may never heal in the Quartermaster’s brain. Months he went in and out of comatose stages and when he was awake, he didn’t recognize anyone. When he did it only seemed to cause him pain.

M made the decision again.

James was never consulted, never asked.

Q was removed from MI6 as soon as he was stable, put into a medically induced coma and left him in a hospital with a new name…a brand new start to life.

800Q8

James refused to think of the voice in his head as anything but R. Most people didn’t call her Q, even though she’d been promoted. She never took it personally, in fact, she seemed to prefer being R. No one was glad that Q was gone.

Especially not James.

_“Your target is in the library, 007.”_

“I’ve got it, thank you.” James commented, cutting the connection. He hated having someone, not Q, in his ear. He hated that Q had been stolen from him. He walked into the library, slowly walking through it when he saw a sight that was impossible to ignore. A pale, messy haired beauty putting away books on a shelf. James instantly took a step towards him and then froze. The doctors had thought, given the circumstances of his memory lapse, that anything that might spark memory in Q may only cause him harm, mental and emotional anguish.

James wondered if his partner had found someone else, if he had found someone to love him, someone to love… He wondered if he lived in a nice flat and drank Earl Grey in the morning and stretched like a cat when he woke up still… He wondered if he was happy.

James didn’t even realize his feet had pulled him forward to Q’s side.

“Hello, sir, what can I—?” Q looked at him with wide eyes for a moment. “Sorry, it’s the strangest thing, for a moment you reminded me of someone I’d met before… Have we met?” Q asked gently.

“I would definitely remember you.” James flirted lightly. Q blushed and squirmed slightly as he always had under James’ flirtatious gaze at the beginning of their relationship. It was hard to think that this Q wasn’t the same. “James Bond.” James said, holding out his hand.

“Q.” Q smiled and reached for his hand. “Sorry, I don’t know why I said that, Alex, my name’s Alex.” Q said, shaking his hand.

“Lovely name, Alex.” James preferred Q’s real name, missed it. Q was still Q though and he loved him.

“Anything I can help you find?” Q wondered, licking his lips. James wanted to kiss him, but what he’d done was dangerous enough.

“Poe?”

“My absolute favorite.” Q beamed. James smiled, glad something’s hadn’t changed. Q grabbed his hand and started to walk before he froze and pulled his hand away, as if burned. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.”

“It’s fine.” James promised, done searching for his target and putting his full attention on Q. He led him into a secluded area where Poe sat dutifully on the shelves.

“Have you read Poe before?” Q wondered.

“Yes,” James nodded.

“What’s your favorite?”

“Pit and the Pendulum.”

“Mine too… Oh, he’s lovely.” Q smiled, pulling a collection off of the shelf. “He always makes me feel a bit melancholy.”

“Have you ever seen The Fighting Temeraire?”

“Turner right? I love that painting…always makes me feel a bit empty.” Q commented with a confused frown, biting his lower lip and holding the book against his concave stomach. It made James wonder if he was eating enough…if someone was reminding him to eat. Did Q still forget to eat? “It’s like, I look at it and I’m supposed to see something else but I don’t know what it is… You know?”

“Yeah…I know.” James sighed heavily.

“Sorry, I unnerve people sometimes. I had an accident…apparently. I don’t remember much of the past few years, it all slips away…so sometimes I’m a bit…weird.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No…I’m alright physically, but they say I’ve repressed something. The doctors said I’ve repressed the accident and everything that lead up to it so that I don’t figure out what happened to me. Whatever it is, I’ve got quite a few scars… Maybe it’s for the best that I don’t remember.” Q sighed.

“As long as you’re happy, Alex.” James nodded.

“I thought I was for a while, but lots of things make me sad, like Poe and art and tea. Things I know I used to love, just…gone. It hurts, but it’s like I can’t stop torturing myself.”

“Don’t you have anyone to make you happy? Friends, lovers, family?”

“I don’t have any family…and I’m a bit socially inept to be making friends, let alone taking on any lovers. Sorry, you don’t want to hear my life story, that’s not what you’re here for.” Q sighed, handing over the book. There was a sharp pain in James’ chest. Q was all alone. He was all alone in a new city without anything, even his past loves made him upset.

“It’s fine. I don’t normally do well with others either.” James said, taking ahold of the book, his fingers brushing Q’s.

“It’s hard to believe that.” Q scoffed.

“What?” James asked.

“Have you looked in the mirror? I’d imagine you have all the company in the world. Whatever you wanted whenever you wanted it.”

 _They’re not you, Q._ “You’re handsome yourself, you know.” James grinned.

“Thanks, but I’m not into women and, again, I’m socially inept. The proverbial ocean is a bit more like a small, shallow pool. You must have a lot more success with the ladies than I could ever have with, well, anyone.”

“I'm gay... Besides, you’re doing fine with me.” James flirted.

“I fell, inexplicably, safe with you…” Q sighed. “Anyways, I’ve got some rather nasty scars. I can’t imagine many people would stomach them for a man like me. I'm not...quite worth braving the...scars...”

“I would—” Q’s eyes widened and he grabbed James by the shoulders.

“007 get down!” Q snapped, shoving James down, falling with him. A gun went off and people screamed.

“This way, Q!” James grabbed Q and led him around the shelf, out of sight of the sniper on the second level. Q rubbed his head and looked at James, confused.

“What the bloody hell was that about?” Q wondered.

“Alex…calm down, everything’s going to be alright. I’ll protect you.” James said, pulling his Walther out of his jacket.

“Who are you?” Q asked with wide eyes, not sounding frightened, just confused. “Is that coded to your palm print?”

“How did you know that?” James asked, looking at Q seriously.

“I don’t know. How do I know that, James? What in the hell is going on? Why does my head hurt?”

“Sh…you’re alright. I’ll keep you safe and then you’ll never have to deal with this again, alright?” James soothed, running his hand through Q’s hair.

“I don’t want you to leave, something about you—”

“This way, Alex.” James stated, pulling Q along with him, through the library, bullets following them. James got Q into another room and gently pushed him down into a corner, behind a wall. “Stay down. I’ll keep you safe.” James promised before firing at the man on the second level. Q looked up at James and blinked.

_“And youth is no guarantee of innovation.”_

_…_

_“You look like hell. You really should sleep every once in a while, you know. I can’t have you handling me in the field if you’re about to keel over.”_

_…_

_“Have you eaten tonight?”_

_“No.”_

_“Then let’s have dinner.”_

_“Dinner?”_

_“And maybe drinks at my flat.”_

_“I’m busy.”_

_“You’ll work your life away. Just dinner and drinks, that’s all I ask.”_

_“Sure it is.”_

_“Q, I’m not 007 right now, please, give_ James _a chance…”_

_“…Alright.”_

_…_

_“Tell me your name.”_

_“No.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“Because it’s classified.”_

_“We’ve been together for a month, just a name. You know I won’t tell anyone.”_

_“Why do you want it?”_

_“When I finally get the chance to lay you out beneath me I think I’d rather like to call out something more than just a letter.”_

_“Who says I’ll be beneath you?”_

_“Mm, the first time you will be. My statement still stands.”_

_“You’re unbelievable.”_

_“Q…?”_

_“…Benjamin.”_

_“Lovely to meet you Benjamin.”_

_…_

_“Stay down, Q, don’t move.”_

_“They’re killing my team, James. I can’t just sit here. They want me.”_

_“Stay where you are, we’ll be there soon.”_

_“They just want me, James…”_

_“Don’t you dare! Stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.”_

_“Then hurry up and come and find me, but I’m not letting anyone else die.”_

_“No! Ben—! Stop! NO!”_

_…_

_“No one is coming for you, so I suggest you do as you’re told before we start breaking your fingers. I would hate for you to only have two left to work with. Or maybe we’ll turn you over and tie you down. I’d bet you would scream nice and pretty for us.”_

_“4a 61 6d 65 73 20 77 69 6c 6c 20 63 6f 6d 65 20 66 6f 72 20 6d 65 2e”_

_“What are you talking about pretty boy? Quit mumbling.”_

_“Ah! 4a616d6573! AHHH!”_

_“What are you saying? Tell me what you’re saying and I’ll stop. I’ll stop this…”_

_“James…James will c-come for m-me…”_

_“Ha! You’re double-o isn’t coming for you. He’s never coming for you. You’re just another notch on his belt. Just a fucktoy. I bet he wouldn’t even care if we had you ourselves. He won’t care about you, he never did. He just used you.”_

_“You’re lying!”_

_“No, I’m not…and you’re going to rot here unless you do as you’re told.”_

_“4a 61 6d 65 73 2e 4a 61 6d 65 73 20 77 69 6c 6c 20 63 6f 6d 65 20 66 6f 72 20 6d 65 2e—ah!”_

“Fuck!” Q cursed loudly, fear welling up inside of him. The last thing he remembered was being tied to a chair…broken, beaten… Then the explosions started, the damn building collapsing on top of him.

“Alex, are you alright?”

“James…” Q looked up at him with wide eyes. “Why didn’t you come for me? Why did you leave me?” Q’s breath picked up, tears in his eyes. His heart pounding. He was starting a full-blown panic attack.

“Oh God…Q. You aren’t supposed to remember.” James moved and grabbed him.

“No! No! No!” Q shouted, trying to pull away, his chest rising and falling at a terrifying pace. James could see his heart pumping frantically with the way his artery jumped. He could give himself a heart attack that way.

“I’m here for you Q, it’s me. It’s James. I’m going to keep you safe, do you hear me? You’re safe now.”

“Why didn’t you come for me? Why didn’t you save me? Why did everything explode?”

“I was coming for you, I was, my love, but 009 got there first… You were compromised and M thought… M ordered 009 to collapse the building.”

“Com-p-promised? I was h-h-helping M-MI6.” Q stated, his body falling out of his control. “I wa-was s-sending in-infor-mation b-back to-to R.”

“M didn’t think you were…so he…”

“B-b-bastard.”

“That’s what I said, come here…” James said, pulling him into a smaller room and gently pulling Q to his chest. “Breathe with me, Ben…I’ve got you. You’re safe now… Breathe with me.” James whispered, trying to make dramatic movements with each breath to help Q slow down his breathing. “I’ve got you now; you’re safe.” James promised, running a hand through Q’s hair, kissing his neck gently. “Sh, I’ve got you.”

“About bloody time. What took you so long?”

“They took you away from me, but I’m taking you back.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” James swore, pressing a kiss to his lips gently. “Come on, I have someone I have to kill, and then we can go.”

“How romantic, were you always like this?” Q teased, sounding more like the Q James loved.

“Only for you. Watch out for me?”

“Always.”

800Q8

James and Q barely had the door to the hotel room closed before James pressed Q against the door, kissing him senseless. Q moaned into the kiss and wrapped his arms and one of his legs around James, trying to pull him closer. James pulled Q’s other leg off the floor, wrapping it around his waist. “God I missed you.” James whispered when they broke to breathe. Q smiled and tugged James forward again, rubbing his hips against him. James moaned and ran his hands down, Q’s shirt, ripping the buttons open and running his hands up and down Q’s chest. There were scars…new ones, but James didn’t care. Q was in his arms.

“Eh-hem.” The two of them broke apart and saw Eve standing in the room, holding a file in her hands. “As much as I’d love to watch…I really think it would be best if you unblock the door and let me out.”

“Agreed, Miss Moneypenny.” James nodded, wrapping his arms around Q and pulling him close and pulling him away from the wall, carrying him towards the bed as Eve put the file down on the side table and grabbed her bag.

“Nice to see you again, sir. Shall I advise M that we have a new Q?” Eve smiled.

“You should leave, we can talk later.” Q told her.

“Of course.” Eve nodded. She wasn’t even out of the room before James had Q pressed down into the bed, kissing him passionately as they tore at each other’s clothes. Eve closed the door and grabbed the small sign on the handle flipping it over so it read: _Please do not disturb_.

She started to walk away but then she heard an outcry of: “James! Please—more!” She took a step back and pulled out a pen amending the sign.

 ~~ Please ~~ do not disturb for the next few weeks. Trust me.

Eve smiled as she walked away and lifted her phone to her ear, pressing a speed dial.

“ _Hello?”_

“Hello, M, this is Moneypenny. Expect 007 to take a few weeks off and demote Q to R.”

“ _Why?”_

“To which part.”

“ _All of it.”_

“Simply put. Q’s back.” Eve smiled before she hung up, stepping into the elevator.

**Author's Note:**

> Anything you want me to write, let me know. I'm about to get a lot of time to write, so I'll need something to do.  
> Much love to everyone.


End file.
